Paper Assignment Analysis

For this assignment you will analyze a paper assignment another professor has given you this semester to determine what that professor is looking for; what s/he values; what kinds of goals s/he has for your writing; and what academic style, kinds of research, tone, and level of correctness s/he is looking for. What are this professor's expectations for your work and how best can you meet those expectations?

Your analysis of this paper assignment will be 3-5 pages long, so take your time exploring what it is this professor is asking you to do.

In fact, since this is a class examining research methods, you might consider doing some primary research by visiting your professor during her/his office hours to discuss her/his expectations for this paper. This primary research you gather (interview) may then be included in your paper assignment analysis.

To begin, ask yourself what kind of knowledge this professor values, what do people in her/his discipline do, & what she/he hopes you will learn, learn to do, illustrate through this assignment.

What kind of research does she/he ask for & why do you think she/he asks for this type of research. If she/he does not ask for research, why do you think that is & what is she/he hoping to see in this paper instead of research?

Can you find an article this professor has written for publication? If so, what kinds of topics and research does this professor pursue? What interests her/him? How does he/she write, cite sources, format those articles, incorporate sources? What can you learn about writing for this professor by reading something she/he has written?

Your goal with this Paper Assignment Analysis is to determine what, exactly, your professor is hoping you will achieve with this paper. You will tell me all you think you know about the task being assigned to you & why that task seems important to your professor. You should speculate about what it might take to make an A on this paper & you may, of course, speculate about how you will complete this assignment.

You will peer review this paper assignment analysis in class (or in Moodle) only once, so make sure you have a lot of it written by the time the peer review rolls around, the second to last week of class.

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